As a tap and clearance ruckman it’s NicNat then daylight second. Easily the most influential player in the competition.
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Toast Nic Naitanui #1 Ranked player in AFL
- Thread starter BeornJ
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He made it.
So pumped.
So pumped.
- Jan 9, 2013
- 2,977
- 4,719
- AFL Club
- West Coast
- Other Teams
- Perth Scorchers, South Fremantle
The ONLY reason I can think of for Gawn to be picked over the mighty Nic Nat would be to make Gawn AA captain (although I guess Gawn could have been on the bench where he belongs - and still be captain?).
- Jun 7, 2015
- 1,202
- 4,471
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Me- "Naitanui made the AA team, but on the bench."
Wife- "Well that is his favourite place two minutes into every quarter."
Jesus, think I prefer it when she doesn't want to talk about footy!
Wife- "Well that is his favourite place two minutes into every quarter."
Jesus, think I prefer it when she doesn't want to talk about footy!
Pleasantly surprised! A complete no-brainer really - should have been named on the ground, but who cares!
200 - Gamer, 3 x AA, 2 x B&F Winner (tbc)
Legend.
PS - How quick was that!
200 - Gamer, 3 x AA, 2 x B&F Winner (tbc)
Legend.
PS - How quick was that!
Biggie
Eat better and exercise
- Moderator
- #181
News - Congratulations Nic Nat 3 x AA
Let’s enjoy the big mans season here. Well done NN on a stellar season. Big fella did all he could with the gifts he has. Will no doubt add another Worsfold Medal to round out a fantastic season individually 🍻
www.bigfooty.com
Colour me pleasantly surprised. Nothing was gonna keep the step-ladder from the team this year, it's been a Melbourne celebration (think he deserved to be in the 22 fwiw). But I'm stoked they decided to recognise Naita as well.
- Thread starter
- #183
Absolute no brainer but I'm thrilled for him.
By the end of the season year he will be a 3 time All Australian and a 2 time John Worsfold medallist.
Hopefully we do a mini rebuild and get him a premiership medallion as well
By the end of the season year he will be a 3 time All Australian and a 2 time John Worsfold medallist.
Hopefully we do a mini rebuild and get him a premiership medallion as well
- Mar 25, 2003
- 35,681
- 28,334
Very well deserved. His CV is now matching up to his on field exploits.
Obviously the premiership medal is missing but he was a huge contributor to that flag and the run in the first 2/3rds of the season that put his in position to make that assault on the flag.
The "Eagles still won the flag without him" crowd conveniently forget that we were super wobbly in the aftermath of his knee injury. Thumped by mid table North Melbourne, pulled one out of our ass against Port (also mid table) and then lost at home to Melbourne (admittedly they were on the charge at that point).
Obviously the premiership medal is missing but he was a huge contributor to that flag and the run in the first 2/3rds of the season that put his in position to make that assault on the flag.
The "Eagles still won the flag without him" crowd conveniently forget that we were super wobbly in the aftermath of his knee injury. Thumped by mid table North Melbourne, pulled one out of our ass against Port (also mid table) and then lost at home to Melbourne (admittedly they were on the charge at that point).
Imagine being on the wrong side of 30, 110kg with 2 knee recos, being restricted to 3/4 of games, relying heavily on your spring and ground level agililty, and winning back to back AAs and BnFs.
We all know he has been the best ruckman in the last 2 seasons. Big Max was named on the field so they could name him captain, and Melbourne finished first so fair play to them.
But NN is a marvel. People said he'd never be the same and he's delivered his two most consistent and maybe also most impactful seasons back to back.
He's the best tap ruckman the game has seen, let's not beat around the bush. He can't cover the ground so he's become a hyper effective ground ball beast, putting up clearance numbers better than almost every star inside mid and inside 50s and contested possessions up with the very best.
His major downside obviously is that he's so dominant our midfielders haven't bothered to learn good defensive blocking and tackling tactics for when he's not there.
I hope we get another 5 years out of him but that's wishful thinking, so I'll just enjoy it while he's still here.
We all know he has been the best ruckman in the last 2 seasons. Big Max was named on the field so they could name him captain, and Melbourne finished first so fair play to them.
But NN is a marvel. People said he'd never be the same and he's delivered his two most consistent and maybe also most impactful seasons back to back.
He's the best tap ruckman the game has seen, let's not beat around the bush. He can't cover the ground so he's become a hyper effective ground ball beast, putting up clearance numbers better than almost every star inside mid and inside 50s and contested possessions up with the very best.
His major downside obviously is that he's so dominant our midfielders haven't bothered to learn good defensive blocking and tackling tactics for when he's not there.
I hope we get another 5 years out of him but that's wishful thinking, so I'll just enjoy it while he's still here.
Unfortunately the reason we won was because our mids had to step up the intensity in his absence, and it’s super frustrating that we can’t have both.
She's going the right way for a smacked bottom!
Thing with the AA is once you win a few in a row you almost have to get injured and miss heaps of games before they will stop picking you. Gawn will now be an auto selection until he has a significantly worse season than the next option, because the selectors won’t be able to separate his past performance
Gov a prime example for this. Don’t think he should’ve got AA his last time.
It’s a weird phenomenon but understandable when there’s no logic behind any of it
Gov is a great example of why people in this thread sound like idiots complaining about Vic bias in the AA. We've had a good run in the AA.
Gov probably shouldn't have made the last two teams he made.
It's strange the way AFL commentary sometimes just latches onto particular players like they did with Gov (not discounting how good he has been at certain points). Of our recent defenders, Emac was definitely the better of the two across a longer period but never got the attention.
I always wonder about this. I honestly think we just hit a sweet spot. NN going down forces us to come up with new structures in the middle (far more defensive) and the oppo who would normally spend hours analysing and trying to curb Nics taps and influence suddenly had no idea how we would setup. Couple that with Gaff missing mixing it all up more.
And then only playing Melbourne and the Pies in the finals were in hindsight the perfect matchups. Our rucks spent their whole time just trying to nullify Gawn/Grundy. Had Nic played there's no way we go with that tactic.
Who knows what the result would've been. We could've won by 10 goals, or not.
None of that's meant to be a slight on NN btw, love the guy
Emac better than Gov for a longer period of time?
Not sure I agree with that one. Mackenzie was a very solid defender but we built a premiership-winning gameplan around Gov and he forced clubs to change the way they play (to our detriment since 2018, but still).
Do you reckon any coach of a term with NN and Gawn in it, would start the 1st bouncedown of a GF with NN on the bench?
Just start them both in the middle. Gawn can ruck and NN could clear.
THE A5
Norm Smith Medallist
- Jul 26, 2020
- 9,342
- 16,570
- AFL Club
- West Coast
Tbf it’s one. That said it made up for his snub in 2015z
